A Million Little Things

November Basic Grey Page of the Month kit

So, I know I seem to say this every single month, but THIS Basic Grey kit is definitely my favorite so far (LOL!) The Nook and Pantry papers are so pretty and sweet, and the rub ons included in the kit from the Offbeat line work so perfectly with the Nook and Pantry papers. I am a sucker for anything with birds on it!

I took my basic idea from Nic Howard's original example, but I made my layout a one page layout instead. For once I kind of even stuck to the theme! ;)

Here is the original example:

here is my example-

and a layout for my other baby girl using the kit:

The best thing about these kits is that I can probably use the materials supplied to make many more pages or cards. I am sure that I will be using these papers a lot!

Until next month-

Shelby 
 
  

One Minute Monday - Grateful

Those of us that celebrate Thanksgiving the American way have a great day to look forward to on Thursday. I love Thanksgiving. We usually don't celebrate T here in Sweden, but me and my husband decided to bring this tradition back home when we moved back to Stockholm from Philadelphia.

Of course there is the turkey, the STUFFING (yup, that's my favorite), the mashed potatoes and the rest of all the yummy dishes on the table, but what I love the most is a reason to really think about what I have to be grateful about.

Family, friends, love, nature, faith, a warm home, clothes, food enough to get full every day (and then some), a super cute cat, creative stuff, letters, knowledge, sun, freedom... My list could go on forever. Today I made a layout about how grateful I am to have my family. I hope that I never will take anything for granted, and I hope that all of you have something to be grateful for.

{Photo Friday}

Happy Friday everyone! It always feels so good to be at the end of the week, so much promise for the weekend :) So today I am bringing you a photo idea, that I have to admit is NOT my original idea, I just ran with it. First a little preview... Here is a collage of some pictures I took of my sister-in-law,
isn't she just so perfect! ahhh, to have the perfect, round belly {sigh...} Anyways, I took this picture
having her hold a blank piece of paper, THEN
I inserted an ultrasound picture onto the piece of paper in Photoshop Elements. Here is another example...
Isn't that so fun? I'm sure you could find many ways to use this tip. And just so you are not left in suspence, here she is...
What a beauty! Have fun taking photos today :)

Get outta your zone - Use paint!

Paint. Gooey, fun, creative... I love paint, but when I make scrapbook pages and cards I often forget my paints.

I'm trying to learn my 11-year-old not to use Wikipedia as a reference, but now I'm going to do just that:

Paint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film.

There are tons of ways to use paint (or ink, somewhat similar) when you scrapbook!

Paint with a brush (Duh!)

Splatter

Color details like cardboard shapes, letters of various kinds

Use different kinds of paint

Mix the paint with glitter or shimmer to make it more exciting

Make frames

Color a paper to a certain shade

One of the design team challenges this month was to use paint. I recommend you to take a tour in the gallery! I hope that you get inspired enough to take out those jars and tubes that I know you have somewhere.

New Products!

Hi Everyone

Some new links for new items listed today:

PRIMA

 Holiday Lights Gold Sprays

RESTOCK Camelot Squire Roses

Restock Peacock Jewel Butterflies

FANCY PANTS

Frosted and Vintage Valentine Lines

OCTOBER AFTERNOON

Very Merry Line, remaining embellishments for Farm Fresh and Report Card

SEI
Juliette Line

PINK PAISLEE

Mistletoe Paper, Stamps,  Rubons, Patches  (please note that because my order was mistakenly lost at PP, I won't be getting the rest of the items from this line as unfortunately they are no longer available)

MAGAZINES

ST and Handmade December Issues, BHG Nov/December

STUDIO CALICO

Homefront Line Individual Items

Thanks!  Happy Shopping :)

One Minute Monday - Organize those photographs

Happy Monday morning, everyone! :-D I've got a quick tip for you when it comes to organizing your photographs. Having your photographs organized really helps get your creativity flowing and your scrapbook pages come together so much quicker! I have all of my photos organized on my computer in a number of ways too, (I'm a bit OCD when it comes to organization, LOL), but what I also have is a neat little box for all of my photos that I print out. It comes in handy.  Sometimes I will print a photo or photos out to scrap right away, but other times I get some pictures printed or I print them out at home and I want a place to put them in that is in one place, neat, organized and easily accessible.
This is what I use:

It's a little photo organizer box from Creative Memories. It came with dividers and I  labeled them with some small scrapbook stickers from Making Memories. I've got categories like milestones, travel, birthdays, every day, holidays, etc. and there's a  spot for every family member. There are a number of things you could buy to keep your photos organized and you could even use things you might have around the house like an old shoe box and make some dividers with some cardboard you might have laying around. So, if you haven't already - definitely put aside a bit of time to organize your photos. It'll be worth your time for sure and it'll really come in handy when scrapbooking! It speeds up the process when your photographs are within reach, altogether and organized! Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a Happy Monday! :-D

Meet Guest Designer Jana Eubank/ Sketch it Challenge!

Hello Everyone

As promised I'm back with a double feature for you.  First off I would like you to meet November's guest designer Jana Eubank!  I have to admit that I have a little bit of a scrap crush on Jana.  It's ok she knows, LOL.  My first contact with Jana was a few years ago when she would order from AMLT from time to time, and being that she is is also from the great state of Utah, and has a bit of a "famous" name here in our state, I had to be a dork and ask her if she was related.  I later found her blog off someone else's and got to view her fantastic, breathtaking pages!   Jana's ability to use lots of product in the most beautifully, artfully, lovely way was is a scrapbook store owner's dream.   Be still my heart, a girl after my own heart with her love of fun product!  To be quite honest with you Jana, you are now more of an icon to me than that other guy(s) :).  LOL  I'm so thrilled that Jana  was willing to work with us this month, thank you Jana! Here is a mini email interveiw I did with Jana:

Tell us a little about you.

 Hi there! My name is Jana Eubank. I have been scrapbooking for about 12 years and LOVE every minute of it.  I love this hobby! I love that it is a creative, hands-on outlet for me that also helps my children and family to know how important they are and that our memories matter. My husband, Kevin, and I live in Bountiful, Utah and we have been married for 13 years. I feel lucky to be a stay at home mom to four super-fun kids who make me laugh every single day. Just this morning my 3-year-old was complaining that her outfit wasn't as "stylish" as her 6-year-old sister's outfit. LOL! When I'm not scrapbooking, I like to work on decorating my home, blog, and hang out with my family. If you'd like to see more of my work or find out more about me, you can visit me on my blog at www.janaeubank.com Thank you, Jill, for having me this month at A Million Little Things. I am having a blast!

 

What or who inspires you most in your scrapping?

I grew up in a family that owned a printing and copying business, so I've always been partial to paper, crayons, office supplies, stickers, etc. It was a natural attraction for me when I discovered scrapbooking and all of it's fun products. I'm definitely a product girl! I feel most inspired when I have a pile of patterned paper and fun new things to play with. I love to experiment by mixing manufacturers and finding fun ways to layer things. I love to check out galleries and blogs of other scrappers. What a visual treat! I'm constantly AMAZED by the way people work. I wish I could look inside their minds and watch the way they make their design decisions.

 

What are your go to products you can't live without?

Oh, gosh! This is where you find out what a true product-addict I am! LOL! I have to have dark brown cardstock, patterned paper, journal spots, buttons, thread, dimensional alphabets, foam squares, and any kind of circle or scallop punch.

 

Do you have any tips for gaining inspiration when in a rut?

When I am in a rut I like to pull out a decorating magazine. I love interior design and am really inspired by the way shapes, textures, patterns, and colors are combined in a beautifully designed room. I will try to mimic their designs by layering my page in the same way. For example, I will use the wall color as the base paper in my page. If the couch in the room pops with a bright orange, I will matte my focal photo with orange cardstock or patterned paper. I will look for similar patterns in my papers to combine together, and if there are metal accents in the room, I will try and pull in binder clips, brads, etc. to have that same feel. It's so much fun to me!

 

Show us your current favorite layout (which isn't apart of your sketches)

My current favorite page is this one called Harvest. I love it because it features my four cute kids and my favorite family outing of the year . . . the pumpkin patch. I love this outing because Fall is my favorite time of year and my kids *let* me take all kinds of cute pictures of them. We have such a great time! Another reason I love this layout is I was on a major creative flow when I put this page together (don't you just LOVE that feeling?!). I had stayed up all night taking advantage of it and this was the last page I created at 6:00 in the morning. The colors and products were really speaking to me and the page practically put itself together! Most of the time I struggle through a page for two hours or more, so it was fun to have something flow together so effortlessly (that I still liked) in just 30 minutes or so.

Now the second part of this post is a treat for all of you. We just finished a sketch it challenge, and it happens to be time for another.  Jana also creates some beautiful sketches in addition to her layouts, so I've asked her to create the sketch for this month for the challenge as well as show you some samples using her own sketch.  First off here is the sketch:

 

Here are the samples Jana did with the sketch featuring some of the cool new prodcuts in the store:

 

 

 

 

So now it's your turn, please jot this sketch down and participate this in this month's challenge!    This month's prize will be a outrageous one and could include bundles of American Crafts goodies.  I can't post a photo now, as I have t leave for awhile, but I'm postitive you'll want to win it!!  I'll post that next week, but get started on your entry now and beat the deadline.  Sketch entry layouts will be due in 2 weeks, Friday November 27, feel free to adapt Jana's sketch in any way it fits you.  She is excited to see the results.

 

Thank you Jana!  Now go.. check out Jana's blog and see all her other fun stuff!

 

 

Sketch it Winner/ News

Hello Everyone

Sorry for the delay in posting the sketch it winner.  If you notice the side bar photo album the entries have all been numbered, because this month we will have 2 winners!  The first winner will be the random draw winner which is #17, Emi from Japan :)!  Thank you Emi for participating and sending this fun layout!

 
The prize will be a pick your own prize again, and I am sending Emi a $25 voucher for anything she would like in the store.  Now the second winner will be picked by you our blog readers.  The readers choice winner will also win a $25 voucher.  So take a look at all the entries here in this folder.  Then to vote leave a comment on this post with the # of your 2 favorite layouts.  You cannot vote for the same layout twice in your comment, and you can't vote more than once.  Please be fair to all the girls that participated and vote on what personally inspires you the most.   I'll take votes through next Wednesday and then close the votes and send the winner their prize.  Sound good? 

Thanks to Kristina.. she is responsibile for the new blog look, fresh and clean :)

Studio Calico has arrived and will be listed in the store later today hopefully.  The Report Card and Farm Fresh remaining items from OA should be here later today if I can get fedex to actually leave them for me. (GRRR... for in person signature!) OA Very Merry items will be arriving on Tuesday finally.

Stay tuned later today for a double treat, a brand new sketch it challenge and a brand new guest designer combined in one!  I'm giddy to share with you :)

Fun times for friday!!

Jill

Get Shaped!

Good Wednesday Evening All.  My post is coming to you about 12 hours late because I have had a super productive day.  Sounds weird and I must apologize for my tardiness!  Luckily I have much to show for my being late because I have sold a couple of homes today; so please forgive me!!!

I {HEART} STARS!  I simply cannot get enough of them.  So when this assignment came up, I grabbed on to it.  I know that in a few weeks I will have stars all over my home for Christmas.  And I think you should too.  Most likely, I will be using these to decorate a tree.

So without further ado, here are my photos (these were taken hanging from a mirror in my living room). 

With both of these items I used mostly Jenni Bowlin Studio products.  I also punched eyelets in the tops and bottom.  The top will hold the ornament hanger and the bottom one has a vintage Christmas ball hanging.  I purchased these in a large package on ebay several years ago. 

You could use any shape and these would be lovely on your refrigerator as a magnet.  I love to whip a couple of these up as grandparent gifts with a magnet on the back.  They are perfect to get rid of those small pictures you don't want to use on layouts.

So go rummage through those left over scrap papers & pictures.  'Cause here is another idea.  Have a good night...at least what is left of it!

Blog changes

I just wanted to give you all a little heads up that the blog will be undergoing some changes for the next few days so please excuse the work in progress. ;)

We hope you like what it's changing into. Thank you for understanding!